CJ Clouse is a writer of both fiction and nonfiction, a former journalist, and a photographer obsessed with the world's neglected and abandoned places. Her essays and short stories have appeared in HuffPost, Insider, The Forge Literary Magazine, Southeast Review, The Georgetown Review, Dogwood Literary Journal and Phree Write Magazine.

She is currently at work on a novel that reimagines her maternal family history, and developing a series of essays that explore her (and America’s) struggle with loneliness and emotional disconnection. Fun stuff!

CJ has spent most of her professional career as a journalist, most recently as a freelance writer covering environmental issues and business sustainability. She has also been a very bad waitress, a bartender, a part-time DJ, an ESL teacher, and a dog walker/cat sitter.

She was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ (she does not recommend it), then went on to wander through five more states and two foreign countries, before returning to the place she loved most: New York City. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter (for now).